Monday, August 27, 2007

Dove’s free offer on Facebook sucks

I’m usually not that blunt. Nor am I gullible enough to click on banner ads offering me free stuff but I have a lot of respect for the Dove campaigns of late so when I saw the offer for a “Free* package of Dove-beauty products” on Facebook, I checked it out.

Boy was I annoyed to find out there were all kinds of strings attached to the offer including having to pay for products. WTF? With the millions of Canadian women on Facebook every day and the opportunity for marketers to promote their products in interesting ways, did Dove miss the boat or what?

Do you agree? Did you click on this ad too? What bad promos have you seen lately? Please share, leave a comment.

Technorati tags: banner ads, Dove, Facebook

4 comments:

  1. I've seen a number of ads like this on Facebook. I clicked through for a cellphone one b/c I was fascinated to know if they really did give away a free phone. They do, but you have to jump through so many really detailed and specific hoops that I'm pretty sure their redemption rate would be low.

    It's the same with this. This isn't actually a Dove promotion, but a company who is using Dove products (likely the same one as the cell phone promo - you're just getting the Dove ad b/c you're a girl and Facebook is getting better at targeting :)

    The interesting question is, do scammy promotions like this, that a brand didn't initiate but is using a brand's products, hurt the brand. In your case, definitely. This is another thing for marketers to watch now and potentially exert some control over. I wouldn't want my product used in questionable campaigns!

    Great post!

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  2. Glad you liked the post.

    I wasn't entirely sure of Dove's relationship to the promotion company. It's damaging to the Dove brand (and Unilever) regardless. I agree marketers need to exert more control over the use of their products.

    I'm not sure why the advertising on Facebook is so lousy and spammy. Several companies are more innovative and extending their brands/products using Facebook groups instead of traditional online advertising (e.g. HarperCollins, TDCanadaTrust, Cake, etc.)

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  3. I just love that you're there playing canary in the coal mine and checking this stuff out in advance and keeping the rest of us informed.

    I too say, great post!

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  4. Jill, I feel the same way about you and tv! Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete

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